Missing infamous betta lines

Hobbyists come and go. With the economy turmoil, this is more apparent in betta business. While there are more sellers selling bettas in auction sites, it becomes more difficult to find a distinct "line" of individuals. Those people who were well-known for their particular lines are no longer seen in public scenes. If you attempted to contact them, many would not even reply back, indicating they have not monitored their means of communication anymore.

Interesting enough, we contacted some of these guys and in rare occasion only to find that the original infamous persons are no longer there, but someone else is doing the business on their behalf. The quality sold is completely different - that reminds us on selling your eBay's account when you no longer need it but it has lots of positive feedbacks ;)

True that many of them only do bettas as a side hobby, but given they've produced very nice line, one would have thought that they'll keep developing the particular line, given a long list of enthusiasts who are still willing to pay large sum of money for their lines.

Some of you may still remember when the first halfmoon was introduced, or that first gold colour, or that copper gold, or that special colours. Many, including us, were simply admiring others when they purchased those $300 per piece of luxury, but that was the very admiring times. Invention of the new colour, bringing overwhelming feeling of creativity and what one can do with such bettas.

There is another group of people who like traditional colours of red or blue or turq etc. They mostly aimed at improving the structural form of bettas, getting that high dorsal, improving caudal or anal, and working darn hard to make sure there is a greater meaning to the hobby.

The reality is, it's a hobby, albeit it's a very expensive one. It gets put aside when other "important" things come along. Producing a unique and distinct, and sometimes subtle, line is very difficult. Not many people appreciate this. Looking at some of the infamous site for bettas, surprisingly they still survive, with some loyal followers. Sure they still charge about double for their fish, but at least the buyers knew exactly what they're getting.

On average, buying 1 pair from these guys is equivalent in cost to buying about 5 fish from other sellers. But one wonders whether there is *really* any difference between their lines and, say, your other bettas that you've acquired from auction sites? This reminds us on the discussion we've got about "designer" or "boutique" bettas, in the middle of this importation post.

Perhaps the law of economy dictates that they ought to disappear. Just like our jobs started to disappear to other countries such as India and China. It's a laugh these days if you can find Australian-made goods when 90+% comes from China. There are too many cheap goods available, and for those that are branded and expensive ones, they still come from China! What would the consumers want? Anything that is affordable. In tough times junk-food outlets makes a lot of money, that shows the sentiment of our consumers.

So for those infamous betta people out there, where have you gone to?